Lenovo Announces the 25th Anniversary ThinkPad

25 years ago today, IBM released its first-ever ThinkPad, the ThinkPad 700C. And now, Lenovo is celebrating this anniversary with its ThinkPad Anniversary Edition 25, a throwback of sorts to the full-sized laptops that catapulted this brand to fame and fortune.

Lenovo is celebrating this anniversary at a special event near Tokyo, Japan, at the labs at which the first ThinkPad was designed. I was invited to attend the celebration—had, in fact, accepted the invitation and booked my travel—but as you may have noticed, I got rather sick while in Orlando for Ignite and ended up canceling on the eve of the trip. So I guess I’ll celebrate this anniversary remotely.

Throwback 700c-style box (not included with Anniversary ThinkPad)

As you may know, I’ve been reviewing PCs, laptops in particular, since 2000, when I began a “laptop of the month” segment for what was then called Windows 2000 Magazine. Since that year, IBM’s—and then Lenovo’s—ThinkPad lineup has factored heavily into my coverage, and if there’s been one constant over these past 17 years from a PC hardware perspective, it is the unwavering and ongoing quality and value of ThinkPad.

ThinkPad chocolate! (Also not included with Anniversary ThinkPad)

During this time period, Lenovo has taken the “thin and light” mantra to new heights, first with its T-series ThinkPads, which eventually split into S (for slim) and non-S variants, and then with its X-series devices. In more recent years, Lenovo has championed the X1 Carbon—first, as a single Ultrabook model and then, even more recently, as a family of devices—as the pinnacle of its premium PC lineup.

Internally and externally, we see some fairly standard components for a mainstream business-class laptop: It packs a 7th generation Intel Core i7-7500U processor, 16 GB of DDR4-2400 RAM, and 512 GB of NVMe-based SSD storage on the inside. Connectivity is provided by Intel dual-band Wireless-AC and Bluetooth 4.1.

The display is a Full HD 14-inch multi-touch unit, and there is no concession to the modern need for a bezel-less design. This is a pure laptop, with a full inch of unused real estate on either side of the keyboard, and about half an inch of bezel around the display.

The ThinkPad Anniversary Edition 25 is a laptop, not an Ultrabook: It weighs 3.7 pounds and is almost 20 mm thick. Both of these numbers are about double the typical Ultrabook today.

So what differentiates the ThinkPad Anniversary Edition 25 from its more contemporary siblings? A number of things.

First, it ships in commemorative packaging that highlights the anniversary. That packaging was inspired by a Japanese Bento box, so it has a kind of delightful opening sequence that reveals the device.

Plus, there’s a nice book describing ThinkPad’s history and a selection of three TrackPoint caps.

The device is a wonderful throwback, with rainbow-colored ThinkPad logos on the lid and wrist rest. The arrow keys are bordered by a throwback, sculpted cutout designed to mimic fingers.

And unlike modern ThinkPad T-series laptops, the Anniversary Edition 25 marks a temporary return to both the old-style full-sized ThinkPad keys and the classic 7-row keyboard design with its iconic blue Enter key, round green-lit power button, and oversized Esc key.

There are even dedicated (non-Fn) volume buttons.

That said, the pointing devices are all modern: In addition to the classic ThinkPad TrackPoint nubbin, we see a modern glass touchpad that’s driven by Microsoft’s Precision Touchpad technologies, just like other 2017-era ThinkPads. There’s also a modern and lightning-quick ThinkPad match-in-sensor fingerprint reader to the right of the keyboard.

Underneath, you’ll find a removable battery—oh, the memories—and an old-school ThinkPad-style dock connector. That removable battery augments a built-in and non-removable battery, and they together deliver 13.9 hours of (rated) battery life. Bigger external batteries can provide up to a combined 27 hours.

Power is driven by the ThinkPad OneLink port, not USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 as with more modern devices.

Also, the ThinkPad Anniversary Edition 25 ships with Windows 10 Pro, as it should, and as a Signature Edition PC, it is not loaded down with crapware: Only Lenovo’s useful and excellent Companion and Settings apps are included. That’s one bit of throwback we don’t need, so it’s nice to see Lenovo doing the right thing.

Lenovo, thanks for the memories. And for the reminder that, the more things change, the more than enduring quality and value matter. The ThinkPad lineup has always held a special place in our industry, and the ThinkPad Anniversary Edition 25 is a wonderful reminder of why. Even today, this design is viable, desirable, and productive.

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According to the official Lenovo unboxing video, you can use USB-C to charge the anniversary edition if you have one of the Lenovo USB-C chargers (such as the one that comes with the Yoga 910, X1 Carbon 5 etc)

Unbelievable! What a massive, wasted opportunity. This laptop is perfect in everyway except one, the crappy buttonless trackpad. I can't believe Lenovo would go to the extent of bringing back the full original keyboard, yet not fit a proper trackpad. What the hell is wrong with product designers these days? I have yet to meet a single normal user who likes buttonless trackpads. I work for a massive company with 2000+ laptops. Users continue to struggle so badly with the new design we are back to issuing mice again. So much for progress...

And before some smart arse points to the trackpoint buttons, unless I have both hands amputated and swapped over they are of no use to a trackpad user!

The device is a magnificent return, with rainbow-shaded ThinkPad logos on the cover and wrist rest Assignment Writing Service. The bolt keys are flanked by a return, etched set pattern intended to impersonate fingers.

This is uncontaminated laptop, with a complete inch of unexploited on both side of the keyboard, and nearly a large portion of an inch of bezel around the display Custom Assignment. There's additionally an advanced and lightning-fast ThinkPad unique finger impression to one side of the keyboard.

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"Power is driven by the ThinkPad OneLink port, not USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 as with more modern devices."

Small correction: That port isn´t Onelink (I think Lenovo calls its slim tip). Its just their proprietary standard charging port, unlike Onelink which also was a dockingport.

Charging via USB C / Thunderbolt is possible with this device, although it is optional. So if you have a USB C charger, you can use it, but if you have lots of old proprietary ThinkPad chargers, you can use them too. The best of both worlds.